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| Punter's Diary by Malcolm Heyhoe |
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| Updated: 1st July 2007 - GG.com |
July Is Just The Job For Punters
The vagaries of the racing calendar means that the Irish Derby at The Curragh on July 1 heralds a month of high-class action throughout the thirty-one days of July. Weather permitting, this is the time of year when the sun shines and the ground rides fast and the racing has its most settled look of the entire campaign.
This is good new for punters because the form has usually established a recognizable pattern, the quick ground is a constant backdrop and finding winners can be more satisfying at this stage of the season than at any other. At least that is how the theory goes.
This year’s Irish Derby will suffer from the inevitable absence of the imperious Epsom Derby winner Authorized who won’t reappear until the Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown just under a week later. Aidan O’Brien’s Eagle Mountain will fly the flag for the Derby form and is likely to be many people’s idea of the winner.
The efforts of the French three-year-olds at pattern level has fallen short this season of their usual high standard but Andre Fabre’s highly promising colt Royal And Regal may set to put that right by taking the Irish Derby back to France for his wonderful trainer. The son of Sadler’s Wells has looked a high-class prospect.
After the Irish Derby the Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park on July 7 is famous for the traditional clash between the older and younger generations, with the latter age group receiving a hefty and influential 10lb weight-for-age allowance and in 16 runnings of this Group1 race since 1990, the three-year-olds have managed six victories while the same number of four-year-olds have triumphed alongside five five-year-olds. The statistics reveal therefore that honours are even.
This time around Authorized, one of the most impressive Derby winners of recent years, seems sure to land a further blow for the three-year-old generation. This valuable Group1 prize has been his target ever since he burst clear of his field at Epsom and his recent home work for trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam has been of the highest order.
On the same day as the Coral Eclipse, Haydock hosts the Lancashire
Oaks and this 1m 4f contest can often fall to a late-maturing
filly, a category into which the James Given-trained Trick Or
Treat fits
most snugly. This prolific winner is one to look out for when the entries
are published. Backers should also study the entries for the Old
Newton Cup on the same day, a race that Luca Cumani often does well in having
landed two of the last four renewals with progressive sorts.
Newmarket’s three-day July meeting takes pride of place in the middle of the month and the opening day of July 12 should see Coronation Stakes heroine Indian Ink bid to land the Falmouth Stakes while on the same afternoon’s card the juvenile fillies will test their mettle in the Cherry Hinton Stakes.
On the meeting’s second day, Geoff Wragg’s late-developing colt Ivy Creek may well bid for a hat-trick in the Group 2 Princess
of Wales’s Stakes and he could well be up to improving on his recent wins in lesser grade at Goodwood and Pontefract. Backers should also watch out for any runners from Sir Michael Stoute’s stable in this 1m4f event.
On July 14 the final day of this grand three-day meeting takes place this year in the new modernist surroundings of the recently re-vamped July course and features the Group1 July Cup as the day’s highlight. Big-priced winners in recent seasons have underlined just how difficult it is to fathom the form of the better-class sprinters, a point that was emphasized by the shock victory of Soldier’s Tale in the Golden Jublee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The latter may well be in action again at Newmarket but could bump into a hugely progressive rival in the guise of the fast-improving young sprinter Sakhee’s Secret. His trainer Hughie Morrison won the race in 2005 with Pastoral Pursuits and may do so again with the terrifically exciting youngster while in the Bunbury Cup over 7f watch out for Zidane, who was done no favors by the draw at Royal Ascot and looks a much improved performer this year.
York’s John Smith’s Cup on July 14 is possibly the entire season’s best10f handicap and as ever remains ultra competitive. Newmarket trainer Willie Haggas has been hatching a long-term plot to land this race with his deeply progressive colt Heaven Knows and if he is in the line-up then backers should take the hint while Richard Fahey’s Fortunate Isle is likely to be among the north’s better candidates.
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In the Irish Oaks at The Curragh on July 15 there is a potentially mouth-watering clash between Oaks heroine Light Shift and new girl on the block Silkwood, who will be fresh from her Ribblesdale Stakes triumph at Royal Ascot while the following weekend Newbury stages the Weatherbys Super Sprint and Richard Hannon is the man of the moment here.
July’s high-class action comes to a close with the splendid King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes,
Britain’s premier all-aged middle-distance event on July 28. This year’s
renewal is once more high on the agenda for Derby winner Authorized who may face top-class opposition from older horses such as Maraahel and Dylan Thomas. Finally, Darjina and Mi Emma, who filled the places behind Indian Ink in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot could do battle again in the Prix D’Astarte at Deauville on July 29.
Malcolm Heyhoe is GG.com's resident tipster contributing a daily "Best Bets" column and a weekly feature called "The Weekend File". He is also a tipster for the Racing Post Weekender, contributor to The Guardian and has written on racing for Sporting Life, Racing Post, Irish Examiner and The Independent newspaper.
Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips
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